Journey of a Muslim

University of Nottingham is well known amongst Malaysians for its lake (a big one) and the Nottingham Malaysian Games (this year in November) which is the biggest games event for Malaysians in UK and Eire.
Nottingham itself is not a big city, so if you love being in a calm and relax atmosphere on campus, well Notts is the right one for you.

Facilities

Notts uni has a big and well eqipped sports centre where you can play various sports, anything you like basically. There are also gym and swimming pool. The sports membership is GBP65 peryear (bronze membership) which entitles you to most of the facilities.

Link to Facilities
Link to Libraries


Course


We have Malaysians doing medicine, pharmacy, engineering, other science subjects like chemistry, biology etc.
Undergraduates population in Notts might be around 300 (of all races, not only Malays).


Accommodation

There are a number of halls of residence located both in and off-campus (accommodation), but most Malaysian students choose to stay in privately rented houses located in Dunkirk area because it is so close to the uni and you can just walk everyday to lectures, and the rent for houses are much cheaper compared to halls as well. If you have not yet sorted your accommodation, feel free to contact the uni reps for help.



Life as a Muslim

The university has a large number of muslim students and a strong and active Islamic Society (ISOC) which caters the needs of muslim students as well as doing da'wa to other students. We have two prayer rooms in the University Park (one for brothers and one for sisters) located in the main building (the Portland Building) where weekly Jumaah prayer as well as daily congregational prayers are held. During lunch breaks you can choose to go home (if your house is in walking distance) or you can always go to the prayer room and 'lepak2' there and get to meet other muslims from all over the world.


Halal Food

Do not ever worry about halal food if you are in Notts! Since there are lots of muslim here, there are a lot of halal shops as well. Halal butcheries are mainly located in Hyson Green, near to ASDA (similar to Giant or Tesco if you like), so you can do your weekly or fortnightly grocery shopping there. Once you are here the current students would be happy to show you how to get there so don't worry. Asian foods (such as kicap, megi, etc) can also be easily found since there are a few of asian shops selling them, and the prices are affordable as well. There are also lots of halal restaurants so you can always eat out if you like.


Malaysian Community



We live like a 'taman perumahan' here in Dunkirk with lots of open houses during festive seasons, makan2 session organized by either the Malaysian Society or anyone feeling like doing so. We also have a lot of postgraduate students here, most of them are our keluarga angkat which will help you to feel more at home


What to Prepare

"Basically just be prepared mentally.
Don't forget your Al-Quran"